Following a successful fall semester, Iowa State’s concert venue Maintenance Shop has been gradually unveiling their spring schedule under their new director, Melissa Sheret.

With M-Shop co-director Samuel Thompson stepping down, the Student Union Board accepted Melissa Sheret for the position. Sheret is an event management major that has been a SUB member since last year, and she already has experience planning events for M-Shop.

“Every year new SUB execs are chosen,” Sheret said. “While George Potter reapplied to be a M-Shop Director again, Sam Thompson did not, and I was lucky enough to receive his position. George and I are very excited to be co-directors for the next year.”

Sheret was involved in arranging last year’s KURE Fest, an annual event presented by Iowa State’s alternative radio station 88.5 KURE. Fall’s 4^th KURE Fest included performances from Yellow Ostrich and Blackbird Blackbird.

“I planned KURE Fest last year,” Sheret said. “Which was held in the M-Shop, and I already knew Jim Brockpahler pretty well from all the help he provided. I received the position of marketing director in the fall, so I already had a pretty good idea of how everything worked, and I thought it would be a good fit.”

The fall semester brought the likes of popular artists Aaron Carter, Crystal Bowersox and Tyler Farr to Iowa State. Spring will bring in artists such as The Lone Bellow and Noah Gundersen, with bigger acts yet to be announced.

If you follow the Maintenance Shop feed on Twitter or Facebook, then you can see that the venue has been gradually announcing spring’s events over the last few weeks. The full schedule will be out in mid-January.

“We have booked a great lineup for our spring semester,” Melissa said. “We are hopeful that these shows will bring a large number of students to the M-Shop, and make it a fun and memorable semester for both ISU students, and for the Ames community.”

The Lone Bellow, a Brooklyn country band, will start off the semester on January 18^th. Noah Gundersen, a country rock artist, has had his music featured on the FX series Sons of Anarchy. Formidable Reggae groups Passafire and Ballyhoo will be performing during one show.

“We are most looking forward to The Lone Bellow, who have already created quite a buzz,” Sheret said. “[also] The Duhks, who play worldbeat/soul/roots music and have a great sound, and Andrew Ripp, who is a pop and alternative singer/songwriter.  We think that these shows will bring good crowds, play great music, and create a great atmosphere for the audience.” 

Other acts slated for 2014 include an appearance from Glee actress Lauren Potter, comedian Tig Notero, horror author Max Brooks, improv group The Second City and indie-roots band The Apache Relay.

“This next year also marks The Maintenance Shop’s 40th anniversary,” Sheret said. We are working on putting together a special show for that, which will be a ton of fun.”

You can see Maintenance Shop’s lineup at the Student Union Board’s website. To see the full spring schedule once it’s released, be sure to check the SUB calendar and follow M-Shop on Twitter and Facebook as well.

“Anyone who hasn’t visited the M-Shop should definitely stop by sometime,” Melissa said. “It’s not too expensive, and anyone who’s ever been there before knows that it’s a very intimate atmosphere, which can give the audience a unique experience, and most of the time it can even lead to meeting the band.”